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1925

Burma Shave Gets Giggles with Gimmicks

An early example of innovative out-of-home advertising was executed by the brushless Burma Shave Company. They did it by creating the concept of sequential billboards. In 1925, strings of rhyming Burma Shave billboards popped up all across the U.S., taking the company from virtually unheard of to the number two shaving cream company in the U.S.

No lady
likes to
snuggle or dine
accompanied by
a porcupine.

Burma Shave outdoor ad

“No one could read just one.” Far preceding a time when things could go viral, marketing to people traveling from point A to point B proved to be a very successful gimmick. They became something families could look forward to and call out on long road trips. At the campaign’s peak, there were 7,000 Burma Shave signs across the U.S.